Sun Microsystems Simplifies Certification with New Open Learning Center

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA) today announced the launch of its new Sun Open Learning Center (http://www.sun.com/openlearning/), an interactive environment for technology professionals and students to more easily obtain certification preparation content. In addition, Sun released findings from a new IDC white paper showing that certification on relevant Sun technologies and processes results in enhanced operational performance.

Leading Market Research Firm Finds Sun Certified Professionals Improve Team Performance

The talent of an IT team is often overlooked as a key success factor of IT organizational performance. A recent white paper by IDC and sponsored by Sun confirms the impact that Sun certification has on the performance of IT teams.(1) A webcast with Cushing Anderson and Stephen D. Hendrick of IDC's Application Development and Deployment Research, discussing the benefits of Sun Certification for IT teams is available at: http://www.sun.com/training/certification/idc.html.

In the white paper(1), Cushing Anderson concluded that "Increasing the concentration of Sun Certified team members on a team directly impacts team performance.” Furthermore, "Teams with 50% of team members certified on relevant Sun technologies and processes perform at the top tier of operational performance.”

Open Learning Center Offers Unique Learning Formats and Highly Popular Courses

To help accelerate learning, the Sun Open Learning Center provides rich multimedia content, system simulations, interactive games and other opportunities for self-assessment. Students can also supplement their learning with hands-on practice labs via the On Demand Labs environment and visit the Solaris Campus in Second Life to learn more about the new features and capabilities of the latest Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System (OS) release.

With over 13 million registered licenses, system administration skills for the Solaris(TM) 10 OS are in high demand. The Solaris OS is supported on over 1,000 x86 and SPARC-based platforms and runs over 7,000 unique applications - more than any other open operating system. The Solaris 10 OS provides powerful features to help system administrators maximize asset usage and systems performance, manage datacenter complexity, increase uptime and harden application deployments.

Learning content for the popular certification -- "Sun Certified System Administrator for the Solaris 10 OS” -- is now being delivered through a unique task-based learning format, which distinguishes it from other online learning offerings. In addition, Sun is adding the new "Sun Certified Solaris Associate” certification for new Solaris users and is offering a special introductory package, which includes certification vouchers, a practice exam and the On Demand Labs for $880 (USD)(2). With over 100,000 Sun Certified Solaris professionals and the tremendous growth in Solaris 10 OS adoption, Sun is also offering a special promotion for system administrators to upgrade their certifications to Solaris 10 OS at a savings of more than 50% off. Details are available at: http://www.sun.com/openlearning.

In a highly competitive workplace learning landscape, Sun Microsystems' certification and learning programs have recently been honored with several awards for innovation by Chief Learning Officer magazine, Brandon Hall Research and ASTD, the world's largest association dedicated to workplace learning. The company has also surpassed the half-million mark for Sun-trained IT professionals around the world.

"Reaching the 500,000 milestone distinguishes Sun Certified as one of the elite training and certification programs in the IT industry and it also demonstrates the continued demand for Sun technologies in the marketplace,” said Karie Willyerd, vice president and chief learning officer at Sun. "Two of the biggest drivers for the success of this program are professional certifications for developers in Java technology and the popularity of the Solaris OS.”

About the Sun Certified Program

Sun Certified is a worldwide professional certification program that offers reliable, standardized measures of knowledge and skills. Sun currently offers certifications for application developers in Java technology, for system administrators in the Solaris OS and Sun Cluster, and for system integrators using Sun Java CAPS. Program details are available at http://www.sun.com/training/certification.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Sun Microsystems develops the technologies that power the global marketplace. Guided by a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer"(TM) -- Sun drives network participation through shared innovation, community development and open source leadership. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.

(1) IDC White Paper sponsored by Sun, The Sun Certification and Team Performance: The Impact on Application Developers, Doc # 211572, April 2008

(2) All prices quoted are in U.S. dollars

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, Solaris and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks of SPARC international, Inc. in the US and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.